Custom Strat - Reborn!

[slowhand84]

Just got one of my favorite guitars back from my tech after a pretty big overhaul, and it genuinely feels like it's been completely reborn. A really flawless example of just how much a super skilled tech can improve an instrument.

I got this stunning Warmoth from GC Used a few years ago for a whopping $350 - has a chambered swamp ash body, beautiful denim finish flame maple top, and a pretty wild birdseye maple neck and fretboard. I'm sure many here have seen it, it tends to pop up whenever anyone's talking Warmoth .

It originally had Duncan YJM pickups but I wasn't a huge fan of them so I sold 'em and got a set of Bareknuckle Sinners. Really great set, but I eventually realized that I don't have a single strat that is actually "stratty" tonally because so many of them have super high output pickups...so when I came across a set of Bareknuckle Apache pickups for a really great price I scooped 'em up with the intention of making it more strat-like.

The guitar also had a brass nut that wasn't cut perfectly, so there was this metallic rattle you could sometimes hear when playing unplugged. Had my tech install a new nut, install a string tree, round the frets, do a full setup, and install the Apache pickups. Total $ invested into this guitar between the pickups and all the work done is just a hair over $600, and it is honestly better than any super pricey Fender I have ever had or played (including several CS models). The Apache pickups are exactly what I was looking for too, they can get beefy when needed but the clean tones are just sublime.

Took the opportunity to snap some new photos now that this thing is in it's "final form", and it's off to spend this terribly rainy Saturday jammin'. As always, click for proper quality:

[Partscaster]

She's a looker.

[slowhand84]

She's a looker.

Thanks man! And now she sounds the part too...high output pickups were just not the way to go in this one, because even though it did sound great the more vintage-voiced Apache pickups really complement the guitar in a completely different (and better) way. Those Sinner pickups are perfect for turning any single coil guitar into a firebreather, but I have plenty of "metal" guitars and needed/wanted this to be something completely different.

This description from Bareknuckle's website is extremely accurate:

"The Apache is a pure, full-bodied early '50s single coil set with exceptional natural sustain and low string pull from the Alnico III magnets.

Apache single coils are based on the rounder, fatter tones of the original '54 to '57 coils. They have a deep bottom end with a bell-like chime in the highs, and rich, wide, mid-range produce a crystal-clear clean tone without ever sounding harsh or thin. Overdriven tones sound full and crunchy with plenty of body for single note work. Scatter-wound by hand with vintage correct Heavy Formvar wire, the bridge coil is wound a little hotter to give better balance across the set. The calibrated Alnico III magnets are hand-bevelled and set in fibre board flat work in either the original '54 stagger with low G magnet, or the more common '56 stagger. The low magnetic pull of the Apache allows for excellent dynamics and perfect intonation".

[bleys21]

Damn! That neck and fretboard are gorgeous!

[slowhand84]

Damn! That neck and fretboard are gorgeous!

Thanks! It's hard to really do it justice with a cell phone camera, the chatoyance is somethin' else. This particular strat is also CRAZY resonant, it's the guitar I play the most unplugged alongside my Vader for that reason. Now that I got rid of the annoying metallic ringing from the brass nut and things are set up perfectly it's finally as it should be.